---
title: "NCO.IDE.A.180 Survival equipment — Part-NCO · Avioverse"
description: "Aeroplanes operated over areas in which search and rescue would be especially difficult shall be equipped with such signalling devices and life-saving…"
url: "https://avioverse.aero/regulations/easa/air-ops/part-nco/subpart-d/nco-ide-a-180"
---

# NCO.IDE.A.180 Survival equipment

ANNEX VII (Part-NCO) · Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

Official sources: [EASA Easy Access Rules (opens in a new tab)](https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/document-library/easy-access-rules/easy-access-rules-air-operations) · [EUR-Lex 2012/965 (opens in a new tab)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32012R0965)

IR Implementing rule

## NCO.IDE.A.180 Survival equipment

Aeroplanes operated over areas in which search and rescue would be especially difficult shall be equipped with such signalling devices and life-saving equipment, including means of sustaining life, as may be appropriate to the area overflown.

IR · NCO.IDE.A.180 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · Regulation (EU) No 800/2013 · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

AMC Acceptable means of compliance

## AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.180 Survival equipment

GENERAL

(a) Aeroplanes operated across land areas in which search and rescue would be especially difficult should be equipped with the following:

(1) signalling equipment to make the distress signals;

(2) at least one ELT(S) or a PLB, carried by the pilot-in-command or a passenger; and

(3) additional survival equipment for the route to be flown, taking account of the number of persons on board.

(b) The additional survival equipment specified in (a)(3) does not need to be carried when the [aeroplane](https://avioverse.aero/glossary/easa/aeroplane) remains within a distance from an area where search and rescue is not especially difficult, that corresponds to:

(1) 120 minutes at one-engine-inoperative (OEI) cruising speed for aeroplanes capable of continuing the flight to an aerodrome with the critical engine(s) becoming inoperative at any point along the route or planned diversion routes; or

(2) 30 minutes at cruising speed for all other aeroplanes.

AMC · AMC1 NCO.IDE.A.180 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2014/016/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

AMC Acceptable means of compliance

## AMC2 NCO.IDE.A.180 Survival equipment

ADDITIONAL SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT

(a) The following additional survival equipment should be carried when required:

(1) 500 ml of water for each four, or fraction of four, persons on board;

(2) one knife;

(3) first-aid equipment; and

(4) one set of air/ground codes.

(b) If any item of equipment contained in the above list is already carried on board the [aeroplane](https://avioverse.aero/glossary/easa/aeroplane) in accordance with another requirement, there is no need for this to be duplicated.

AMC · AMC2 NCO.IDE.A.180 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2014/016/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

GM Guidance material

## GM1 NCO.IDE.A.180 Survival equipment

SIGNALLING EQUIPMENT

The signalling equipment for making distress signals is described in ICAO Annex 2, [Rules of the Air](https://avioverse.aero/glossary/easa/rules-of-the-air).

GM · GM1 NCO.IDE.A.180 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2014/016/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

GM Guidance material

## GM2 NCO.IDE.A.180 Survival equipment

AREAS IN WHICH SEARCH AND RESCUE WOULD BE ESPECIALLY DIFFICULT

The expression ‘areas in which search and rescue would be especially difficult’ should be interpreted, in this context, as meaning:

(a) areas so designated by the competent authority responsible for managing search and rescue; or

(b) areas that are largely uninhabited and where:

(1) the authority referred to in (a) has not published any information to confirm whether search and rescue would be or would not be especially difficult; and

(2) the authority referred to in (a) does not, as a matter of policy, designate areas as being especially difficult for search and rescue.

GM · GM2 NCO.IDE.A.180 — Regulation (EU) No 965/2012 · ED Decision 2014/016/R · Air OPS Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 27 Mar 2026

[All rules in SUBPART D: INSTRUMENTS, DATA AND EQUIPMENT](https://avioverse.aero/regulations/easa/air-ops/part-nco/subpart-d)

Consolidated from the EASA Easy Access Rules (revision 27 Mar 2026, extracted 2 Nov 2026) for convenience. Not the official publication — verify against the Official Journal of the European Union and the EASA publications before operational use.